Ironing board device



June 2, 1959 L, SHAFFER 2,888,760

IRONING BOARD DEVICE FiledApril 7. 1958 :inventor ena- Z. f//Afffe United States Patent RONING BOARD DEVICE Grace L. Shaffer, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application April 7, 1958, Serial No. 726,882

1 Claim. (Cl. 38-136) This invention relates to an ironing board device, and particularly to an ironing board device which is provided with ironing boards of different sizes in a new cooperative supporting relationship to each other.

More specifically, the device is one in which a large or main board is so associated with two smaller boards that the main board can be supported stably by the two smaller boards while the latter are resting on a table top and, in turn, the two smaller boards can be supported by the main board while it is resting on a table top, the boards being so related to each other that no tilting occurs due to the ironing pressure applied Ito any one board while it is supported by one or more of the other boards.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description wherein reference is made to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ironing board device embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4, are a top plan view, a front elevation, and a left end elevation, respectively, of the device illustrated in Fig. l.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the device comprises a first or main board 1, a second board 2, which is of less width than the board 1, and a third board 3 which is of less Width than the board 2.

The board 1 is connected at one of its ends to a spacing support in the form of a pair of blocks 4. The boards 2. and 3 preferably are portions of a single larger board 5 which, at one of its ends, is connected to the blocks 4.

The blocks 4 support the boards 1 and 5 in parallel spaced face to face relation to each other with both boards extending in the same direction yfrom the blocks 4 toward their free ends.

The boards 2 and 3 are provided by a bifurcation of the board 5 from its free end back toward the spacing support or blocks 4 so that the boards 2 and 3 are coplanar and in edge to edge laterally spaced relation to each other. The space between the adjacent edges of the boards 2 and 3 is such that a tubular garment, such as a dress or sleeve, can readily be slid over the free end of the board 2 or the board 3 and can drape or hang down between the boards without interference.

The ironing surface 6 of the board 1 and the ironing surfaces 7 and 8 of the boards Z and 3, respectively, are parallel to each other so that when the surface 6 is resting on a horizontal supporting surface or table top the surfaces 7 and 8 are supported in horizontal spaced relation above the table top and, conversely, when the surfaces 7 and 8 rest on a table top, the surface 6 is disposed in horizontal spaced relation above the table top.

Preferably, the boards are arranged so that the outermost lateral edges of the boards 2 and 3 are aligned with the corresponding outermost lateral edges of the board 1, respectively, in a direction normal to the ironing surfaces of the boards.

In any event, the free ends of the boards 2 and 3 are positioned sufficiently near to the free end of the board ICC 1 in a direction endwise of the boards so as to prevent tipping of the boards by normal ironing pressure applied upon either the board Z or the board 3 at the free end when the device is supported by the engagement of the ironing surface of the board 1 with the table top and so as to prevent tipping of the board 1 by normal ironing pressure applied upon the board 1 at the free end when the device is supported by engagement of the ironing surfaces 7 and 8 with the table top. Thus the ironing pressure can be applied on any and all areas of the ironing surface of each board without causing any tilting.

For this purpose, the free end of the board 2 preferably is the same distance from the nearest supporting block 4 as is the free end of the board 1, and the free end of the board 3 is spaced a short distance back toward the nearest supporting block 4 from the free ends of the boards 1 and 2.

The board 1 and the entire board 5, including the boards 2 and 3, are covered with the usual padding and cover cloth, as indicated at 9.

The device may be used in the position illustrated in Fig. l in which the smaller of the two boards 2 and 3 can be used in pressing seams without touching other parts of the material, as when dress pieces are being sewed together, and also for childrens garments and sleeves thereof. The larger of the boards 2 and 3 is suitable for use in pressing larger sleeves. The unbifurcated portion of the board 5 is useful for pressing shoulders and the like. On the other hand, the board 1 is useful for ironing larger areas.

Thus, in each instance, the boards are so arranged that, while affording ironing surfaces for ironing different types of garments, they are so related to each other that the boards 2 and 3 provide a very stable support for the board 1 so that ironing can be effected thereon without tilting and the board 1, in turn, provides a stable support for the boards 2 and 3 so that ironing can be done thereon without tilting.

Any board can be made readily accessible for use by very simple manipulation of the device.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

An ironing board device comprising elongated first, second, and third ironing boards, respectively, each having an outer ironing face and a free end over which a tubular garment can be slid for ironing, the ironing face of the second board being narrower than the ironing face of the first board and the ironing face of the third board being narrower than the ironing face of the second board, a spacing support connected to the boards at the ends opposite the free ends and supporting the boards with the ironing faces of the second and third boards facing away from the first board and defining a plane parallel to the ironing face of the first board, and the ironing face of the first board facing away from the second and third boards, and with all of the boards extending endwise in the same direction from the spacing support, the second and third boards being in spaced edge to edge relation to each other from their free ends to a location near the support, a sufiicient distance so that an article being ironed on either can hang freely through the space between them, said distance being at least as great as the width of said third board, the outermost lateral edges of the second and third boards being substantially aligned, in a direction normal to said plane, with the lateral edges of the the first board, respectively, the free end of the second and third boards being close enough to the free end of the first board to maintain the rst board free from tilting by downward ironing pressure on its ironing surface while the device is supported by engagement of the ironing surfaces of the second and third boards with a horizontal supporting surface, the free end of the second board, in a direction endwise of the boards, being close to the free v 2,888,760 i I 4. end of the rst board, and the third board terminating, at References Cited in the 61e of this patent its free end, a substantial distance short of the free ends of the first and second boards, respectively, so that the UNITED STATES PATENTS outer end portion of the second board is readily acces- 194,209 Young et a1 Aug, 14, 1877 sible from the edge nearest the third arm, and the space 5 2,700,835 Bugg Fell 1J 1955 between the second and third boards extending endwise of vthe boards at least the major portion of the dista-nee FOREIGN PATENTS from the free end of the third board to the spacing sup- 76,520 Netherlands N0v 15 1954 port. 

